Girlfriends ...

And why I love mine.

First, they are there to scrape you off the floor whether you are down there because you are laughing or crying hysterically. And they wait for you to come back from the ladies room before telling the rest of the story that put you on the floor in the first place.

Second, they are there to listen to you vent one more time about the same situation ONE MORE TIME! And they don't complain that you already told them that three times.

Third, they are there to help you when you need it even when you don't think you need it.

Fourth, they can make me laugh/cry faster than anything and they know when I really need it.

Fifth, they love me warts and all. And I've got a lot of them.

Sixth, they encourage me to continue to grow in the Lord by their words, actions and love.

Seventh, they all pretty much knit or appreciate my knitting with the appropriate awe.

Eighth, they like my cookies, bread etc. and gladly try one more thing I've made.

Ninth, they share clothes, yarn, food, drink, tears, laughs and more yarn, food, drink...

And tenth, God put them in my lives at the right times and I'm so very grateful to have them all. Thank you Lord!

So go love on your girlfriends today. Call one and chat. Meet one for dinner or coffee. I promise you won't regret it.

In Christ's Love,
Peg

We had to take drastic measures ...

The kids were totally wired this afternoon and getting on our last nerves so we had to take some drastic measures. They had to run 6 laps around our acre. Here's the exhausted group:



We're hoping they'll sleep good tonight. It was either laps or the chains. (Just Kidding)

In Christ's Love,
Peg

My Babby thinks she is a big girl.

But I beg to differ. She has been telling me that she doesn't NEED a nap anymore because she is a big girl.

This week is a special week for us. Our family is here and they are playing hard and fast with each other. She has tagged along behind the big kids really well. And we have allowed them to just be together and play. I haven't had her nap at all. Then tonight, around 8 p.m., minutes after her bath she sat up with her Daddy and look:


This was at 8:02 p.m. But she is a big girl! Really she is!

Don't you just love it? There are many days I wish I could curl up in my Father's lap and sleep like that. He'll hold us if we let him. I'm trying to let Him. How about you?

In Christ's Love,
Peg

They are here!

We've got our family from WV visiting us this week. They came in this afternoon around 4 and they'll be staying through Sunday afternoon. We're so excited they are here! My girls are all downstairs making up dance steps and generally being teen and pre-teen girls. Notice the poses in the picture? You all be praying for us. We need it!

And did you notice my walls and the beautiful floor my beloved finished this afternoon around 3:45? Gorgeous, huh? I knew putting it on the blog would motivate him! Thanks!


Have a great day in our Lord!


In Christ's Abundant Love,
Peg

Family

You know pretty much everyone has a family. Of some sort - it may not be the typical family that we're presented with in "Leave it to Beaver" or "The Cosbys" but it is a family nonetheless. In my family we have my beloved and my four girls plus me. Then, of course, our extended family (that'd be my mama and daddy, three sisters and one brother and all their people, my beloved's mama and daddy, sister and all her people), aunts, uncles, cousins etc.

And then there are the people we've chosen to be family. My best friends who live in WV, my girl friends who live here in VA, in IN, in NC, etc. My girl friend's folks who live other places like Arkansas. I love them all. And I love the blessings they are in my life. I'm not sure some of my family would have chosen me at first glance but I'm sure glad they look past the outside and get to know me.

I am a family person. I am rarely without someone in my family with me and I love being with them (well, most of the time). I love wholly when I love you and I tell you often. And once you are in my family - however you got there - you are there forever. Doesn't matter where you live, whether we see each other often or not - you are still in my family. I like to think that this is an area where Christ wants us to be like him. He loves us and we are his brothers and sisters because we are adopted into the family. Praise the Lord!

So how big is your family these days?

Food, Friends and Fun

And not necessarily in the that order.

This week we have had the opportunity to have meals with several sets of friends and I have to tell you it just doesn't matter where we are at because we sure know how to have a good time!

These are the places we've been in the last ten days with our good friends: A really nice restaurant (think someplace we wouldn't really take the kids), our very favorite family restaurant where everybody knows our name and we have a favorite waiter (that would be Sal's in Williamsburg, Va), a hot dog place, my girlfriend's living room and tonight our very own dining room table.

In all the meals we've had with all of our friends the one recurring theme is that every meal was a great time of fellowship and just enjoying the company of each other. No alcohol needed. Just fun, food and lots of laughter! I sure can't wait to get to heaven if this is any indication of what is to come. That is what I'm talking about!

Time well spent ...

My beloved and I spent the weekend away. We went to a retreat our denomination sponsors every spring for their lay people. We had a wonderful time recharging both as a couple and as people who love the Lord. It was a focused time for both things.

When I got to my hotel room on Friday night this is what awaited me:




Isn't God good? Need I say any more about how my weekend went? Enjoy your week.

In Christ's Love,
Peg

Raising the stakes...

Or getting my family room finished! I told my beloved the other day I was going to post the pictures of the family room work-in-progress on my blog so he was accountable to other people - that would be you all ;). He laughed and said "Hm, Raising the stakes!" YEP!

We have been in our house 9 years this year and when we first moved in the downstairs was completely unfinished. A big honkin' open room. My beloved has a plan and he has been working the plan for the last 9 years.

The next part of the plan is our family room. We are so close to being finished. We have the drywall done. It needs sanding, mudding, sanding, mudding and sanding, mudding one more time. At least, that is what my beloved tells me. I really am so impatient I'd more than willing overlook a few sloppy walls. He, however, is of the mindset that if he is going to put that kind of work into then dag snap it he is going to do it right! And I love that about him.

So for your viewing pleasure: the pictures of where we are at:



I'll update as he does the next stage. Ask him about how it is going when you see him next. He really does want to finish it for us.

In Christ's Love,
Peg

Romance and all that jazz. (aka Praising the Lord)

My beloved is a really romantic guy. The hard thing is his wallet doesn't always match the kind of romance he wants to give me. I love that the Lord provides ways for him to show his love for me without breaking the bank.

Most of you know my beloved works a second job. Well last night when he came home from that second job he brought me 2 dozen pink roses. Yes you read that right 2 DOZEN! They are absolutely beautiful.

Now before your heart leaps into your throat about how expensive that must have been (like mine does when I think he's spent too much) let me tell you the Praising the Lord part. These beautiful roses set my beloved back a whopping $4.00 and change. Yes, that is the Lord. He blesses us all the time by stretching our finances beyond anything the world thinks possible.



I now have this huge vase of beautiful flowers on my kitchen table that smell great!
And I am enjoying them immensely. I love that man! God is good all the time!

Great Wolf Lodge

Well the girls finally convinced me that we have enough going on at La Geron to start a blog. So here we go.

Great Wolf Lodge? Ever heard of it? We have one nearby our home and my beloved won free day passes for us. He totally rocks! We were finally able to use them last week and it was a blast. The premise is an indoor water park with lots of different slides, wave pools, and just tons of good, clean fun.

Now let me just say that me in a bathing suit any time is not my idea of fun. However there are no boundaries that love for my girls will not break down. So there I was in my bathing suit in public and I have to say I loved the day. I forgot I was uncomfortable being in my bathing suit, forgot that it was not really my cup of tea and the Lord blessed my day by giving my girls a day they'll not soon forget. And along the way taught me a lesson I'll not soon forget.

We went with my girlfriend and her one year old. It was so hilarious to see him and Charlotte run through the water and play in the fountains shooting up from the floor. It made me think of the Lord - a lot of things do these days. I watched their enthusiasm for going through those fountains and thought this is what the Lord would have us do - run through His fountains of grace, love and mercy. He would have us be joyfully coming to those fountains every day. He gives us new grace, new mercy and everlasting love every single morning. So no matter how we screwed up yesterday he gives us that clean slate each morning. I praise Him for that clean slate because I sure need it every morning.

So how about you? Are you taking the clean slate the Lord gives you every morning and allowing yourself to move on? He has taken care of the past so let it go. It is a clean slate because He wants you to focus on Him and his abundant love for you. Not the past. Let it go. He has.

In Christ's Abundant love,
Peg